A former insurance broker for Pechanga Resort & Casino near Temecula who was convicted last year of bilking the tribe has now pleaded guilty to stealing from a San Diego County Indian casino, authorities said.
James William Riley, 50, was sentenced Wednesday, May 7, in San Diego County to 16 months in prison and ordered to pay $172,000 in restitution, according to a new release from the California Department of Insurance.
Riley was charged in San Diego County in January with multiple felonies, including theft and embezzlement involving the workers’ compensation insurance policy for Casino Pauma. He pleaded guilty in April to one count of grand theft.
Investigators said Riley failed in 2007 to return $172,000 in excess premiums resulting from fluctuations in the number of employees, which was his duty as a licensed agent. The loss was discovered in 2010 and prompted a criminal investigation involving multiple agencies and the Pauma-Yuima Band of Luiseño Indians, the release said.
“When Riley chose to follow his greed and rip off his clients, he violated his fiduciary responsibilities and their trust,” Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones said in a written statement, adding that workers’ compensation fraud costs California consumers billions of dollars every year.
Riley and Ryan Jay Robinson, Pechanga Casino’s former chief financial officer, were sentenced last year in Riverside County to two years, 8 months in prison for commercial bribery in connection with an insurance overcharging scam from 2006 to 2007 that cost the tribe millions. They had been indicted by a grand jury in 2010.
PECHANGA BAND OF LUISENO Indians has stolen well over $400 MILLION from tribal members via disenrollment
4 comments:
wasn't a Pechanga council member mentioned as to signing the checks and possible knowledge of the embezzlement involved in the Pechanga case.
I heard it was Andy Mesial. and he was getting a cut of take
Either we are all naive or it's OK for lying corrupt acts to be pushed around as long as it wont effect us and we can feel it. The real bad part is it is affecting us, each moment each lie, each I'll put my head in the sand moment allows corrupt acts to be put around. Either we sit around and allow it, or we take back our place. Anyone who sees the truth agrees, inside and out.
What Mark forgets is the tribe did decide who is in the band, all the way back to the creation of the reservation. For the corrupt to step forward and disrespect the tribal elders who have passed away but left certified depositions to the creation of the band is sick. These corrupt actions are not Indian, they are corrupt acts of fake Indians. Disrespecting elders is an unfortunate act that needs to be stopped even by force if necessary.
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